JPS61148520A - Hand grip type communicator and communication system utilizing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand-held communication device suitable for both one-way communication in the form of a keyboard and two-way communication in which communications are received by touch.

In particular, the device of the invention is suitable for people who are mute, deaf and mute, as well as people who are blind, deaf and mute.

Background of the Invention Keyboards are communication devices and, more precisely, human-machine interfaces in a variety of situations.

In addition to typewriters, keyboards are widely used in computers, word processors, and communication to remote locations. The keyboard is designed to be operated by touch only, and a skilled operator does not need to look at the keyboard to operate it.

Although conventional keyboards serve their purpose in a wide variety of applications, they are not without drawbacks or limitations. A significant limitation of conventional keyboards is their size and also the need to use both hands for conventional touch typing at reasonable speeds. The so-called “lap” is currently a portable type that can be handled manually.
Computers are originally sized to the minimum dimensions necessary to accommodate a standard keyboard and display window, such as an LCD display.

Among them, various modifications have been proposed in the past.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,238
Discloses a hand-held data person crab knit having a handle with a two-button switch. In that unit, four push-button switches each correspond to four columns of an attached matrix display that is scanned and visually displayed to the user during operation. Additionally, a thumb switch is provided which acts as a shift key.

Various communication devices have been proposed and used in the specific field of devices for assisting people with physical disabilities. To give one example, a matrix communicator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4.241.
No. 521.

A typical device for such purpose is also described in U.S. Pat.
．． No. 075.621, No. 3.925.779, and British Patent No. 1.475.886.

A fundamental limitation of the keyboard, which is also a limitation generally common to the devices disclosed in the above-mentioned patent specifications, is that
It is a one-way communication device.

That is, the user must receive communications through other means, such as a computer screen or printer. Therefore, although keyboards and their attached devices can be used for communication between people who are deaf or hard of hearing, they cannot be used for communication between people who have the additional disadvantage of being blind.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and has the ability to see, hear, and speak, and further, to communicate between people and computers without using communication means other than the sense of touch. It is intended to enable one-way or two-way communication with other devices.

Furthermore, the present invention facilitates communication with small computers and the like that would otherwise be hidden from view when held by a person, and also seeks to provide a communication device that is small and can be held in the hand. It is.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an improved keyboard device.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a very compact keyboard device that can be held and operated with one hand.

A third object of the present invention is to provide the above keyboard device that facilitates bidirectional communication.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard device as described above which is capable of communicating in conventional 8-bit or 16-bit binary codes, such as ASCII codes.

Means for Solving the Problems To summarize, according to the present invention, there is provided a handle-like body having an appropriate shape such that the fingertip, center and base of a finger of a person's hand can be bent around, and A hand-held communication device is provided having a plurality of switch actuators that are selectively manually actuated in combination. To increase the number of switch actuators that can be actuated by fingers of one hand, at least one pair of switch actuators are arranged on the body to be selectively actuated by a fingertip and a base of a single finger, respectively.

In one embodiment, a predetermined combination can generate a display in pinary code, such as an ASCII code, that can be directly understood by computers, various terminal devices, printers, and the like.

In a particular embodiment, eight switch actuators are arranged in four pairs, with each pair of switch actuators corresponding to a particular finger.

With this configuration, complete 8-bit data can be generated and 256 different combinations or patterns can be selected. Additionally, a ninth switch actuator is provided in a thumb actuable position to provide a "strobe" for indicating to the device to which the handheld device is connected that the selection of the switch combination is complete and that the combination is now valid. Conveniently, the ninth switch actuator is used as the means for generating the signal.

It has been found in practice that this unique arrangement of switches allows binary-coded messages (eg ASCII codes) to be generated very quickly. When the apparatus of the present invention was actually used, it was possible to directly operate a standard parallel manual printer driven by a combination printer.

According to another important feature of the invention, corresponding to a particular switch actuator of said switch actuators:
A plurality of selectively controlled tactile stimulation elements, such as transducers or "click" devices, are mechanically connected to the switch actuators to enable communication to the operator of the handheld communication device. Thus, the same hand-held communication device allows for two-way communication through the sense of touch, without the use of sight or hearing at all.

As can be seen from the foregoing, an important feature of the hand-held communication device according to the invention is the arrangement of the switches, whereby at least one pair of switches can be selectively selectively operated separately by the fingertip and base of the same finger. can operate. Furthermore, the nine switch actuators can be actuated in any combination using just one hand. However, embodiments of the present invention in which a hand-held communication device includes a selectively controlled tactile stimulation element for use as an information receiving device are not limited to the specific arrangement of switches described above. Therefore, due to the bidirectional communication of limited information, a simpler arrangement of the switch actuators is possible according to the invention.

Although the hand-held communication device according to the invention can be applied in any field where conventional keyboards have been used, for example in the field of communication with computers, the device according to the invention can When used by a person who is deaf and dumb, or even a person who is blind, deaf, and dumb,
Especially useful. For example, a hand-held communication device according to the present invention may be used as an interface to a computer-operated display to display messages on the display by entering messages into the hand-held communication device using ASCII codes. can be done. Therefore, other people can understand the communication simply by looking at the display screen.

Two such people can easily communicate with each other by each holding a hand-held communication device as a two-way communication device and by electrically connecting these devices to each other. . In this case, the switch actuator of each device is connected to the corresponding tactile stimulation element of the other device. The electrical communication may be relatively direct, such as when two people are in the same room. Electrical interconnections between the hand-held communication devices may be made by using modem equipment for computer-to-computer communication or terminal-to-combicoater communication, such as by connecting via ordinary telephone lines. , can also be done over long distances. In either case, the code sent and received is essentially binary.
code, the above systems are fully compatible.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1-3, a handheld communication device 8 according to the present invention has a length that generally corresponds to the width of the palm of the hand, somewhat resembling the grip of a pistol. The hand towel main body 10 is provided with a handle. A suitable belt 12 is provided to support the main body 10 in the palm of the hand. In this way, the communication device 8 is kept in place while the fingers remain essentially free. The main body IO is formed into an appropriate shape to match the shape of the hand, and has a portion 14 on which the thumb rests. A cable 15 connects the circuit within the main body 10 to an external device. The imaginary lines in FIG. 1 illustrate the outline of a typical finger of a human hand folded to wrap around the main body 10. A finger can be divided into a base, a middle, and a fingertip.

In the illustrated embodiment, eight push button switch actuators are provided in the body 10. These actuators are fingertip switch actuators 16A arranged to be selectively operated by the fingertips as shown in the figure.

16B, 16C and 16D and arranged to be selectively actuated by the finger base as shown.
Contains 8C and 18D. Preferably, a thumb switch 20 is also provided. To enhance the tactile response, especially when the communication device 8 is used for reception, the finger base switch actuators 18A to 18D increase the contact area, as can be seen in FIG. It has become somewhat elongated and elongated.

Therefore, an important aspect of the invention is this arrangement of the switch actuator. This allows two actuators to be actuated with one finger, and eight switch actuators to be actuated with one hand in any combination desired.
Thereby, a complete 8-bit binary code can be output.

Referring to FIG. 4, switch actuator 16
A to 16D and 18A to 18D are the individual bit inputs B of a suitable interface circuit 30, such as a parallel to serial converter. -87 is connected. As is known, the parallel-to-serial converter includes a parallel-input, serial-output shift register which, when triggered, outputs a series of serial bit signals via a serial output line 31. In FIG. 4, thumb switch 20 is part of a switch that is connected to a strobe input that triggers a series output.

The serial output line 32 can be connected to any of a number of devices, as represented by box 38. Typical examples of this device are computers, printers, communication device modems, and other handheld devices. , or other interface circuits. Similarly, it should be understood that parallel to serial converter 30 is merely representative and other forms of interface may be used, such as a direct parallel interface.

Switch actuators 16A to 16D and 18A
There are a plurality of tactile stimulation elements mechanically connected to the switch actuators, such as shown as transducers 40A-40D and 42A-42D, in a one-to-one relationship with respect to tactile stimulation elements 40A-18D. Typical tactile stimulation elements are buzzers and mechanical "click" devices. Suitable tactile stimulators include those for communicating with blind people, such as the Opticon J, which uses a vibrating pin to enable blind people to read typed text. Currently used in electronic devices.

The vibrators 40A to 40D and 42A to 42D are
a serial-to-parallel converter 44 that performs the inverse operation of the parallel-to-serial converter 30;
individually and selectively driven by. This serial-to-parallel converter 44 receives signals in the form of a series of serial bit signals via line 46 and outputs parallel signals from the individual bit outputs B0 to 87.

The actual physical arrangement will vary widely depending on the particular application. For example, transducers 30 and 44 of FIG. 4 can be housed within case 8, in which case wires 32 and 46 are part of cable 15. In other embodiments, transducers 30 and 44 or other electrical circuitry may be entirely external to body 8.

7-bit ASCI, which is widely used for the following data communications:
The operation of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the following Table 1, which shows a portion of the I-code.

Table 1 As shown in Table 1, according to the standard ASCII code, each character is encoded as a specific pattern of seven bits. Here, Bo is a low-order bit and B6 is a high-order bit. The eighth bit, B7, is not defined in the standard ASCII code, but can be used for special control purposes to suit individual applications. In this way, ASCII
The code defines a total of 128 characters (including control characters).

Those skilled in the data communications technology will understand that Table 1 is for convenience of illustration
It will be understood that this is only an excerpt of the CII standardization code.

Switch actuators 16A to 16D and 18
A through 18D can be used to specify bits B in any desired manner.
o = 8−, but the second
The table shows, for illustrative purposes, one such example assignment that has been found suitable.

Table 2 The operation of the invention will be discussed with reference to the table above.

- As an example, consider that the user intends to convey an uppercase letter with an ASCII bit pattern of 01001100 as shown in Table 1. In this case, using the set of fingertip switches 16A-16D to select the LSB bit, the user only activates fingertip switches 16C and 16D. At the same time, the finger base switch 18A to 18D
Using this set, the user actuates only the finger base switch 18C. When the appropriate pattern has been selected, the user activates thumb switch 20 to send a strobe signal.

In the illustrated embodiment, the manual strobe button switch 2
0, but the strobe signal may be automatically generated at regular intervals for rapid operation, e.g. 1.2 or more times per second, in which case:
An experienced user can have a rhythm consistent with the automatic strobe interval. In such a case, allow the user to adjust the strobe interval. Depending on the particular application, the encoded automatic strobes are generated repeatedly by an electrical circuit within the case 8 (not shown) or by an external electrical circuit connected to the device.

In order to receive information, for example, oscillators 40A to 4
Tactile stimulation elements such as 0D and 42A-42D are selectively actuated based on external signals to generate a tactile sensation, such as a buzzer or click.

Although the single-handed unit 8 with eight encoded switches and a ninth (strobe) switch is quite suitable for most applications, it is understood that more complex arrangements may be used. will be done. For example, two such units may be used by one person, one in each hand. In this case, the 16 bit pattern can yield a total of 65.536 different combinations.

Alternatively, even many switches may be included in a single hand grip unit.

One possible configuration is to use a similar structure for the trigger prevention with a switch positioned such that lifting a finger will actuate the switch.

Of course, this configuration results in fewer possible combinations than those displayed simply based on the number of switches installed. The reason is that two switches on either side of the same part of one finger cannot be activated at the same time.

Referring now to FIG. 5, another electrical circuit suitable for implementing the present invention is illustrated. In FIG. 5, a plurality of normally closed fingertip button switches 116A-116D and also normally closed fingerbase button switches 118A-118D are attached to a handle such as body 10 shown in FIGS. 1-3. It is provided in the shaped body. A normally closed thumb switch 120 is also provided. All these switches are connected to another case 1 through a set of isolation diodes 120 and appropriate connectors 124.
It is electrically coupled to electrical circuitry contained within 26.

As an output device, a standard parallel interface printer 128 is provided, connected via a suitable cable 130 through another connector 132.

The electrical circuitry within case 126 includes an 8-bit parallel type latch that allows parallel data to be output to printer 128 when strobe thumb switch 120 is actuated. In this embodiment, the latch is, for example, Type No. MC14076 Low Power CM manufactured by Motorola.
A pair of 4 that is a standard integrated circuit device such as an O3 device
Bit D type registers 134 and 136 are provided.

To be more specific, fingertip switches 116A to 116D
and finger base switches 118A-118D are connected to latch circuits 134 and 136 as shown. -D3 via a separation diode 122.

For example, an input input resistor 138 having a suitable resistance value such as 100 KΩ is connected. Although a normally closed switch is used in FIG. 5, a normally open switch could be used as well by using appropriate logic inversion.

Output Q of latch circuits 134 and 136. -Q3 is connected directly to the appropriate pin of output connector 132.

The strobe conditioning circuit, generally designated by the reference numeral 140, includes six integrated circuit inverters 1 connected in series.
41 to 146. To also allow selective inversion of logic values, a switch 150 is provided to selectively bypass the first inverter 141. Suitable RC timing circuitry 15 is used to produce a strobe pulse of a predetermined duration, regardless of the length of time that thumb strobe switch 120 is activated.
2 is connected between inverters 142 and 143.

Output 154 of strobe condition circuit 140 is connected to connector 1.
32 to the printer 128;
Intermediate output 156 is connected to clock input C of D-type latch circuits 134 and 136.

In operating the circuit of FIG.
An appropriate combination of 16A to 116D and 118A to 118D is selected. When the proper combination is selected, the thumb switch is actuated to generate a pulse on output lines 154 and 156.

A pulse on line 156 connected to clock power C of latch circuits 134 and 136 causes zero power data to be transferred to the Q output and held stable until the next strobe pulse.

At about the same time, a strobe output on line 154 indicates to printer 128 that valid, stable data is available.

In this circuit configuration, switches 116A through 116D and 118 occur momentarily while the appropriate combination is selected.
Various combinations of A through 118D have no effect on output or operation. However, strobe switch 12
This is unless the data up to 0 is considered valid.

Beyond the benefits of the invention, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a highly effective and versatile communication device suitable for a wide variety of communications using only the sense of touch. Probably.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and further described above,
It will be appreciated that numerous modifications and variations will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a hand-held communication device according to the present invention held in the palm of the hand. FIGS. 2 and 3 are switch actuators of the hand-held communication device of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating an example of electrical connections of various elements; FIG. 5 is an electrical circuit diagram illustrating another example circuit. (Main reference numbers) 8...Hand-held communication device, ■0...Handle-shaped body, 1
2... Obi, 15... Cable, 16A-
16D, 116A-116D...Fingertip switch actuator, 18A-18D, 118A-118D...Finger base switch actuator, 20...Thumb switch (strobe switch), 30...
・Parallel-serial converter, 40A to 40D, 42A to 42D... Vibrator, 44...
Serial-to-parallel converter, 124.132 ・Connector, 1
28...Printer, 136.138...Latch circuit, 140...Strobe condition circuit,

Claims (10)

[Claims] (1) A handle-shaped main body having an appropriate shape such that the fingertips, center, and base of a person's fingers can be bent around it, and a plurality of switch actuators that are selectively manually operated singly or in a predetermined combination. , wherein at least one pair of the switch actuators are arranged on the main body so as to be selectively actuated by a fingertip and a base of a single finger, respectively. Device. (2) It has eight switch actuators arranged in four pairs, each pair corresponding to a specific finger, and the two switch actuators in each pair are located at the fingertips of the corresponding fingers. The hand-held communication device according to claim 1, wherein the hand-held communication device is disposed on the main body so as to be selectively activated by a portion and a base portion, respectively. (3) A hand-held communication device according to claim (2), wherein the switch is selectively activated to generate characters represented by a binary code. (4) The hand-held communication device according to claim (2), further comprising a switch actuator at a position operated by the thumb. (5) A plurality of selectively controlled tactile stimulation elements are respectively connected to a specific switch actuator of the switch actuators, and the plurality of selectively controlled tactile stimulation elements are connected to each of the switch actuators to transmit communication to the operator of the hand-held communication device. A hand-held communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that it enables two-way communication. (6) The handheld communication device according to claim (5), wherein the tactile stimulation element is a vibrator. (7) The handheld communication device according to claim (1), further comprising a band for holding the main body on the palm of the hand. (8) A two-way communication system comprising a pair of hand-held two-way communication devices, wherein the communication devices are arranged so that the fingertips, center and base of the fingers of a person's hands can be bent around the fingertips, center and base of the fingers of a person. a handle-like body having an appropriate shape; a plurality of switch actuators that are selectively manually actuated singly or in a predetermined combination; and corresponding to a particular switch actuator of the switch actuators,
a plurality of selectively controlled tactile stimulation elements connected to the switch actuators to enable communication to an operator of the communication device, wherein at least one pair of switch actuators is connected to a single a switch actuator of each hand-held communication device and a corresponding tactile stimulation element of the other communication device; A two-way communication system characterized by electrical connection between the two. (9) Each of the handle-like main bodies has eight switch actuators arranged in four pairs,
Each pair corresponds to a specific finger, and the two switch actuators of each pair are arranged on the main body so as to be selectively actuated and tactilely sensed by the fingertip and base of the corresponding finger, respectively. A two-way communication system according to claim (8), characterized in that: (10) Each of the hand-held communication devices has a switch that is selectively activated to generate a character represented by a binary code.
Two-way communication system as described in Section.